NEWS RELEASE

June 19, 1996  For Immediate Release

BREITKREUZ QUESTIONS LIBERAL STRONG-ARM TACTICS AGAINST FARMERS

Ottawa - Today, Garry Breitkreuz, MP for Yorkton-Melville, stuck up for grain farmers in his riding who have had their trucks seized by Canada Customs. "Several farmers in my constituency have been charged with the same offence that Dave Sawatzky was found not guilty of in a Manitoba Court. They feel the Liberal government no longer has the legal authority to hold their trucks," reported Breitkreuz.

Breitkreuz asked Agriculture Minister Ralph Goodale why the farmers have not had their trucks and their property returned to them when the validity of the law is now in question. "The farmers had to manage through spring seeding without their trucks and still can't ship grain. This has been a real hardship for them and has cost many of them thousands of dollars," said Breitkreuz. "These grain producers believe the government should be defending their property rights. Instead, the government is seizing their property."

The Liberal government repeated their mantra that they are just enforcing the law and that Canada Customs and the Canadian Wheat Board have acted "very fairly". "If the courts find someone innocent, what kind of government do we have in Canada that remains convinced that they're guilty, and treats them so. This is harassment of farmers, plain and simple," said Breitkreuz. "It also demonstrates a lack of initiative and leadership on the government's part because they fail to address the root causes of the problems with the Canadian Wheat Board which have led to an intolerable situation. The Liberal government has become the enemy of the farmers."

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For more information please call:

Yorkton: (306) 782-3309

Ottawa: (613) 992-4394